[mewzilla]

Wow. That is weird. Could the merchant vessel have been in kind a holding pattern waiting for dock space at its destination? Would burn fuel to do that, but a port wouldn’t want ships stacked up, so to speak, right outside it, would it?

Or could the merchant vessel have been off loading or taking on some illicit cargo during that u-ey?

[central_va]

In peacetime thee is no reason to steer erratically like that.

[mewzilla]

Were there any other US or Japanese naval vessels in the area, anyone know?

[TXnMA]

I've replicated the ACX Crystal's reported detailed path -- adding in the relative positions of the two vessels at the time of collision:

Based on the angle of impact, I'd say that it's likely that the Fitzgerald was maneuvering to avoid collision at the time of impact.

Perhaps I've been reading too much Clive Cussler ("Serpent" -- wherein the helmsman of the Stockholm deliberately rammed the Andrea Dorea)...

But,

Given the extremely difficult (and deliberate) maneuvering by the big container ship-- plus the fact that the ACX Crystal DID NOT STOP TO RENDER AID as required by international law -- I cannot help but speculate that the collision was a deliberate act of war by the helmsman and/or crew of the ACX Crystal...

~~~~

I almost hate to ask this, but -- has anyone checked the religion of the officers and crew of the ACX Crystal?